When I first moved to San Diego the wide variety of climates, topography and geology was incredible to me. One of the first places we explored was the desert east of the mountains. Anza Borrego Desert Park.
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a remarkable expanse of desert wilderness in Southern California. Covering over 585,930 acres (2,371.2 km (about 1473.4 mi)), it’s the largest state park in California and the third largest in the United States. The park is named after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza and the Spanish word for sheep, “borrego,” which refers to the bighorn sheep that inhabit the area.
Geographically, the park is situated within the Colorado Desert of southern California, stretching across San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside counties. It features a diverse landscape that includes vast badlands, rugged mountains, and desert plains. The park’s topography is characterized by its dry lake beds, eroded valleys, and mountains that rise above 5,500 feet (1,675 meters).
Anza-Borrego is part of the Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve and is adjacent to the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The park’s terrain is continually shaped by natural forces such as flash floods, seismic activity, and erosion, offering a dynamic and ever-changing landscape. The park’s geology is unique, lying along the western margin of the Salton Trough, a major topographic depression with parts of the Salton Sink reaching elevations of 200 ft (61 m) below sea level. This area forms the northernmost end of an active rift valley and a geological continental plate boundary.
Just outside of the small town of Borrego Springs just inside the State Park is the Palm Canyon Trail which is a beautiful hike which follows a creek that flows down from the Mountains up Palm Canyon.
On one of our trips on a two-lane highway we were greeted by a series of metal sculptures created by the artist: Ricardo Breceda. Seeing life-sized elephants, lions and horses in the middle of an open flat desert is quite a sight to see.
Ricardo Breceda is an artist known for his impressive large metal sculptures of animals. Born in the town of Villa Unión in the state of Durango, Mexico, he now resides in Aguanga, California. His unique creations have left a lasting mark on the desert landscape, adding a touch of magic to the surroundings. Ricardo Breceda has lived in California for over 25 years. His journey as an artist began somewhat accidentally when his daughter Lianna, at the age of 6, requested a dinosaur of her own for Christmas after watching the movie “Jurassic Park III.”
At the time, Ricardo was a cowboy boot salesman, but he traded a pair of boots for a welding machine. Within a few weeks, he had crafted his first sculpture: a 20-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Ricardo’s best-known work emerged when he crossed paths with Dennis Avery, an heir to the Avery Dennison Corp. label makers. Avery owned Galleta Meadows Estates in Borrego Springs and envisioned turning his land into a giant free-standing art gallery. Commissioned by Avery, Breceda created over 130 pieces to dot the landscape. Notably, you can find his 350-foot sea serpent swimming in the sand.
His work also appears in various locations in eastern San Diego County.
The magic of art and the desert have taken me back to Anza Borrego repeatedly. One of the first of many discoveries I have made
in the most Southwest Corner of the United States.
Jon Pinter